110 HR 1156 IH: Investment in Quality School
U.S. House of Representatives
2007-02-16
text/xml
EN
Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.
1.This Act may be cited as the
Investment in Quality School
Leadership Act
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)The Nation is
experiencing a shortage of qualified school administrators and principals with
such shortage expected to intensify. This shortage comes at a time when States
are enacting new and more rigorous learning standards, school officials are
expected to handle an increasing number of non-educational problems and issues,
and the current generation of school administrators and officials are retiring.
The combination of these factors results in a shrinking pool of qualified
applicants.
(2)The shortage is
particularly severe in high poverty school districts because of lower salaries
and the challenging work environment. In many such districts, a
disproportionate number of school administrators and principals have less than
3 years of experience.
(3)The ability of a
school or district to improve teaching and raise student achievement is greatly
dependent on the quality of leadership. Quality leadership can only be achieved
if potential leaders are provided with the necessary support, professional
development, and resources.
(4)All current and
prospective principals and superintendents need support in their first 3 years,
such as mentoring and sustained professional development, to become effective
school leaders and to raise school and classroom performance
effectively.
3.The purposes of this Act are—
(1)to provide
ongoing, intensive professional development to superintendents, principals, and
prospective superintendents and principals, particularly those serving, or
intending to serve, in high-poverty, low-performing school districts and
schools;
(2)to improve the
capacity of current and prospective superintendents and principals to serve as
effective leaders and successfully implement standards-based reforms;
(3)to encourage the
recruitment and retention of quality school leaders at the district- and
school-level by enabling them to further develop their skills and knowledge;
and
(4)to recognize and
support the importance of principals and superintendents in facilitating
student learning and improving academic achievement.
4.
(a)
(1)From the amounts appropriated to carry out this section
and not reserved under subsection (g) for any fiscal year, the Secretary of
Education (in this Act referred to as the Secretary
) shall award
grants to eligible consortia to establish professional development programs
described in paragraph (2).
(2)A program referred to in paragraph (1) shall serve a
State or region and provide superintendents, principals, and prospective
superintendents and principals, particularly those serving, or intending to
serve, in high-poverty, low-performing school districts and schools, with
ongoing, intensive professional development opportunities to improve their
capacity to serve as effective leaders and successfully implement
standards-based reforms.
(b)
(1)The Secretary shall award grants on a competitive basis
to eligible applicants to carry out this section.
(2)In
awarding grants under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to
consortia in which the local educational agency participating in the consortium
serves the highest concentration of children living in poverty.
(c)
(1)In order to receive a grant under this section, a
consortium shall include not less than—
(A)one local
educational agency serving a high concentration of children living in
poverty;
(B)one institution of
higher education; and
(C)one organization
that does not usually provide educational services, but has the necessary
expertise to provide professional development to school administrators.
(2)An eligible consortium may also include—
(A)one or more
additional local educational agencies;
(B)State educational
agencies;
(C)for-profit
organizations with the expertise to provide professional development to school
administrators; and
(D)public or private
nonprofit organizations with the expertise to provide professional development
to school administrators.
(d)
(1)In order to receive an award under this section, an
eligible applicant shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time,
in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require.
(2)Each
such application shall include—
(A)information
demonstrating that the applicant shall meet the matching requirement of
subsection (f); and
(B)a description of
the involvement of superintendents and principals in developing the
application.
(e)
(1)
(A)A consortium that receives a grant under this section
shall use the grant funds to establish or expand a leadership development
program described in subparagraph (B).
(B)The
program referred to in subparagraph (A) shall provide superintendents,
principals, and prospective superintendents and principals, particularly
individuals serving, or intending to serve, in high-poverty, low-performing
schools and school districts, with ongoing, intensive professional development
opportunities through activities that increase the knowledge and skills of
participants in such areas as—
(i)effective
instructional practices;
(ii)the
content of the State’s standards and supporting implementation of the standards
in the classroom;
(iii)comprehensive
whole-school reform approaches and programs;
(iv)the
effective use of educational technology to improve teaching and
learning;
(v)the
recruitment, assignment, retention, and evaluation of school staff;
(vi)the
enhancement and development of management and organizational skills;
(vii)leadership
skills;
(viii)the effective
use of data for decisionmaking; and
(ix)the
implementation of school-based leadership teams.
(2)A consortium that receives a grant under this section may
also use the grant funds to support—
(A)the recruitment and
preparation of prospective principals and superintendents, including candidates
with leadership and managerial experience in fields other than education;
and
(B)alternative
pathways to administrative positions.
(f)
(1)
(A)Each recipient of a grant under this Act shall provide
not less than 50 percent of the annual cost of the project assisted by the
grant from sources other than this Act.
(B)A
grantee’s share of such costs may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly
evaluated.
(2)The
Secretary may waive the matching requirement of paragraph (1) with respect to
applicants that the Secretary determines serve low-income areas.
(g)The
Secretary may reserve not more than 4 percent of the amount appropriated under
subsection (i) for each fiscal year for technical assistance, evaluation,
dissemination of information on effective programs for preparing and training
district and school-level administrators, carrying out activities to encourage
the spread and adoption of successful leadership development centers, and other
national activities that support the programs under this section.
(h)
(1)
(A)The
Secretary shall, in consultation with representatives of local educational
agencies, State educational agencies, institutions of higher education,
superintendents, principals, education organizations, community groups,
business, and labor, conduct a study to evaluate and report to Congress
regarding existing professional development programs that recruit, prepare, and
train district- and school-level administrators to serve as effective leaders
and successfully implement standards-based reforms in diverse educational
environments across the Nation.
(B)The Secretary shall submit a report to Congress not
later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act regarding the
findings of the study conducted under subparagraph (A).
(2)The Secretary shall submit to Congress a report not later
than March 1, 2012, regarding the effectiveness of professional development
programs, established pursuant to this section, to recruit and retain
principals and superintendents.
(i)Authorization of
appropriationsThere are authorized to be appropriated
$100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to carry out this
section.